(Harper Collins Publishers) 1994 0-06-023483-0 h

Just to be honest, this installment didn't hit as hard as its predecessors. There were a few beautiful turns of phrase, such as the idea that Aslan grows larger as the beholder grows older or that he remains unseen by those who don't have the faith to follow him. But, on the whole, it just lacked some of the depth that we've become accustomed to in Narnia. Still a good read, and I'm looking forward to the next one. ( )

I read [b:The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe|100915|The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #2)|C.S. Lewis|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1353029077s/100915.jpg|4790821] as a child, but never went on to read the whole series. I finally decided to try this one yesterday out of mild curiosity, and I quite enjoyed it. It's an amiable fantasy tale with nothing really disagreeable about it, I like the way it starts, this time none of the children behave badly, and there's a conventional villain instead of the bizarre White Witch. But it's a slight book that seems to be over quickly, and the story could be summarized quickly and simply.

It makes another little adventure for the Pevensie children, but a very much briefer adventure than their previous one, and they don't really have anything important to do in it. The forces of the bad king are basically overcome by Aslan, who could have done that at any time he chose, with or without the Pevensies.

Revealing himself initially only to Lucy seems like pointless teasing.

It also seems rather odd of Aslan to assert that Narnia can be ruled only by a human, although its native inhabitants aren't human. The Narnia books are known to be written from a Christian point of view; are they also written from an imperialist point of view?

I might have given this book three stars but for its slightness and the way Aslan sweeps in and makes the struggles of the other characters seem irrelevant.

At the end, Aslan tells Peter and Susan they're now too old to return to Narnia. Why? Because these are supposed to be children's books? Seems pretty arbitrary. Especially as they all grew well into adulthood in Narnia during the previous book. ( )

I did enjoy seeing the children go back to Narnia. Although a year had passed for them things had changed in Narnia which I found interesting. ( )

Well I guess I'm in the minority. Quests and battles. Interesting characters not getting their due development or even full descriptions. 'Middle book' boring & irrelevant to the series arc, as best as I can tell. Poor Susan; I don't know why Lewis had to write her scene of cowardice because it's not true to her character... I guess he just had to show how gracious & forgiving Aslan is yet again. Well, onward! ( )

Book 281 - CS Lewis - Prince Caspian

The 4 Pevensie are summoned back to Narnia from a train station and arrive on a beach near an old ruined castle. They soon discover their weapons of old and realise that several hundred years have passed since they were last in Narnia. There are new rivalries…some who threaten the old ways…the ways of Aslan.

Greed…human greed and selfishness is at the core of the evil of this story. Eyes are off Aslan and onto peoples from across the continents… especially the Telmarines. Caspian flees for his life and with Aslan instructing Lucy… she tells the others where they and the Narnians must stand and fight.

Peter challenges the leader of the Telemarines, Miraz, to single combat …winner takes all…

In a thrilling finale we find out some of the links between our world and Narnia…we also learn that growing up is hard and not everyone gets to go home again.

Stunning…and so real. ( )

Tempos difíceis abateram-se sobre a terra encantada de Nárnia. Os dias de paz e liberdade, em que os animais, anões, árvores e flores viviam em absoluta paz e harmonia, estavam terminados. O Príncipe Caspian, herdeiro legítimo do trono, decide trazer de volta o glorioso passado de Nárnia.

Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy all get pulled back into Narnia when Prince Caspian uses Susan’s magic horn to call for aid. They discover that thousands of years have passed since they were last in Narnia and much has changed. Caspian is the rightful king, but his uncle has taken the throne and Caspian’s life is in danger. The children travel through wild terrain with a friendly dwarf to reach Caspian and his army in time to help turn the fate of the battle. Aslan also shows up just in time to help out, sort of, with, weirdly, Bacchus and his Maenads in tow.

I didn’t remember much about this entry in the series from when I was a kid. It’s not…great? Not a lot happens, there’s an overabundance of poorly-veiled references to the importance of blind faith in capital-G god, and what’s with Dionysus and his crew showing up for a revelry?! Very weird. ( )

The Pevensie siblings find themselves back in Narnia, although they aren’t sure how they got back or why. It soon becomes apparent that they are there to help Prince Caspian claim his rightful place on the throne. His despicable uncle has killed Caspian’s father so he could be king, and now that he has an heir, he must also dispose of the Prince. Still only a child, Prince Caspian must fight not only for his throne but for his very life. The Pevensie children come to his aid, to thwart the uncle. This exciting tale is the second in the series. It introduces some new characters, and it also foretells of some things yet to come. It goes without saying that it is as well written as the first tale. The adventure continues! ( )

Like "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", this second book still suffers from excessive focus on how wonderful Aslan/Christ is, and too little on the story. Still, Lewis has a pleasant way of telling the tale, and I enjoy his narrative voice in this children's fantasy.

This is the last book with the four Pevensie children. Edmund and Lucy will be back next book, but Susan and Peter will have become too old to come back to Narnia. Ah, growing up is bittersweet. ( )

Made out to be a little less magical than 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe' that we all love dearly, this book showed that in the hands of C.S.Lewis, nothing is any less magical. Not at all. ( )

What a lovely book! As I slowly work through this series book by book, reading them aloud to my siblings, I’m understanding more and more why this series is so popular. Of the books about Narnia that I’ve read so far (the first four), I feel like this one had some of the most easily applicable allegories in it (aside from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, of course). I enjoyed that aspect of the story, but it was also fun to get to see how the children from the second book were brought back to Narnia to help when the desperate need for their assistance rose again. This made for a fun read-aloud, and I can’t wait to read more with my siblings! ( )

[Reading in chronological order, #4]
Not as magical as the first two, but an improvement of the third.

Lynn Redgrave narrated this in audio. ( )

For me, "Prince Caspian" isn't one of the highlights of the Narnia series. Although it continues the journey of the Pevensie children, it seems like relatively bog-standard fantasy fare, with new characters who I actually find don't enhance the story that much. "The Magician's Nephew" suggested there were so many worlds out there, and this - while not a bad story, by any means - doesn't take much advantage of Lewis' imagination, beyond a few funny incidents. Perhaps I'm just not interested in the more standard fantasy tropes that appear here. ( )

More intriguing in its setup and resolution than the first, mostly because it radically adjusts the status quo of Narnia by fast-forwarding a 1000 years when the four kids return to it. The actual story between all this is just as frustrating to me as the first, however. It seems wholly disinterested in dramatics, which is a complaint that could be lobbied to parts of Tolkien's Middle-Earth series, but for a children's fairy tale I find it more necessary. We spend little time reacquainting ourselves with our main four when the story shifts to an extended backstory for the titular Prince Caspian, coming to the present adventure at about 100 pages in this edition where they connect and try to defeat the current temporary king Miraz. This action consists of the party walking around, hoping for some vague kind of help, and then ultimately receiving it from Aslan. Character agency seems not a concern. The duel between Peter and Miraz would be kind of exciting if it was written with some sense of suspense and drama, but again, it's kept at a distance for the most part. There's this side bit of treason going on with Miraz's right-hand men, but it's quickly brushed over to where it might as well not been in here. In summary--some more interesting bits inside of another tepid adventure. Not exactly.a page-turner given Lewis' approach to the story he's got here, but easy enough to finish. I hope for more abstract later entries, since he's not excellent at adventure or character so far. ( )

I know the most recent time I re-read this I struggled through it. Maybe because I listened to it this time it was easier and much more enjoyable. I love the growth of the characters and the descriptions. Reepicheep is one of my favorites. There is some gender role issues, but given the time period this was written. I can let that go.

SPOILERS

Given that I’ve watched the films and that the adaptation of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was almost identical to the book, I was a little surprised that this book was a bit different from the sequel film. the story is very much the same and the events as well, though in a different occurrence and Prince Caspian’s part and character was tweaked quite a bit (for the sake of the plot I suppose) but I wasn’t disappointed. I love this book and all of the new characters you meet. (Reepicheep has my heart) I do wish that we got to see Aslan’s time in the Beruna village on screen, that was one of my favorite moments in the book. ( )

the film miss out so much and adds a relationship that not even in the books. ( )

Part two of my Great Narnia Reread. These books are interesting!

Caspian was never my favorite Narnia book as a child, and I can kinda see why. It's a fairly linear adventure story with a lot of tromping through the woods. Still, the opening rates as one of the most magical sequences in the series: the four Pevensie children finding themselves on a mysterious island and slowly arriving at the truth: they're exploring the ruins of their former castle.

If the first Narnia book is about redemption, Caspian is about restoration. The opening of Caspian's story parallels the Pevensies' in a pleasing way—as the children uncover the ruins of the past, Caspian gradually discovers that the Old Narnia is still very much alive. The rest of the book is pretty straightforward: the kids tromp across Narnia, there's a bit of a war, and the girls and Aslan team up with the forces of paganism to bring on a new age of libertarian anarchy. (There are MAENADS, y'all.) It's a nicely spun tale, and if it has a fault, it's that Miraz is a pretty boring villain and his defeat requires an eleventh-hour deus ex machina.

The gender stereotypes here are... not great at times. I was pretty appalled both by the scene where Peter walks into almost certain death with a quintessential, English public school, stiff upper lip, not even hugging his little brother goodbye, and Susan's overall role in the party as the Bitchy One. If I handed these books to a kid, I might want to followup with a conversation about gender roles in fiction.

But of course what I really want to talk about is Lucy and Aslan and theology. The long sequence where Aslan is visible only to Lucy is the reason I say these books are interesting.

Now, as a secular reader, if you take these chapters literally you will get nowhere—or rather, you will find yourself in the weeds, arguing about what it means to have faith in a God who seemingly withholds information, and that is nowhere anyone wants to be.

Instead, I invite the reader to approach this sequence as a parable about commitment to the truth. A while back it occurred to me that the famous quote about Lucy is actually a really good motto for the #MeToo movement. "You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth."

So yeah, I don't have much to say about lions who only appear if you believe hard enough (although this is a theme that Lewis explores more productively in Till We Have Faces). But if we stop worrying about Aslan's motivations and focus on Lucy, I think this becomes a really lovely parable about bravery and honoring the truth. Lucy knows something to be true, recognizes this knowledge is a call to action, and is afraid to do anything because her goddamn family won't believe her. I think this is a character arc we can all get behind.

What's more, read this way Lucy's siblings reactions become more legible—Edmund, who believes her but wants to follow the consensus of the group, Peter who listens to his head rather than his heart, and Susan, who knows in her heart that Lucy is telling the truth but just doesn't want to be inconvenienced.

I never in a million years thought I would stumble upon a close-reading of these chapters that redeems them, but there you go. #believeLucy ( )

This is the fourth book in the series....in chronological order....and the bases for the second movie.

Having never read this book, I was alittle surprised to find it so different than the movie. The Lion the Witch and wardrobe was so spot on, I was expecting the same in this installment.

Some of the creative liberties taken with the movie are understandable in the effort to produce a better cinematic experience.......but, there are some wonderfully fantastical and magical events here that would have been dynamic on screen that were, curiously, left out.

Although this isnt my favorite in the series, its still a must read for children and fun loving adults alike! ( )

The Pevensie siblings travel back to Narnia to help a prince denied his rightful throne as he gathers an army in a desperate attempt to rid his land of a false king. But in the end, it is a battle of honor between two men alone that will decide the fate of an entire world.

This is my first foray into The Chronicles of Narnia. I’ve seen the movies (or at least some of them), but only once when they first came out, and don’t remember much about the movie based on this book. This is yet another series I wish I’d read when I was younger; I have a feeling I would have liked it more as a kid. Overall, I enjoyed it a little more than the previous book. Maybe that's because the Pevensies aren't newcomers to Narnia anymore, but I think it's more due to the Narnians that they encounter this time. Reepicheep made my heart melt!

The story involving Caspian, as well as Peter and Edmund's additions to the conflict, I enjoyed. I've never been one for reading battle sequences, so I appreciated that most of the fighting was summarized. Even the one full fight that was shown had a lot of interjection by other characters, so it was more fun than it probably should have been. I was not a fan of the sequence of events that followed Susan, Lucy, and Aslan as they gathered up the rest of the Old Narnians. It all felt a little strange to me and made me wonder what the purpose of it was. Most of what was shown didn't really affect the rest of the story much.

It is possible I misinterpreted parts of this book, though it is meant for readers more like my daughter's age, and I doubt she will get bigger meaning out of it than I did when she reads the book. However, aside from those areas, I enjoyed the book overall and think she will too. ( )

Good, though inconsistent. Each book in the series seems to marginally improve on its predecessor. I read on with the hope that the series extends beyond simply being decent, enjoyable books. ( )

3.5*

I found that I liked this entry in the Narnia series more than I had as a teen. The story is reasonably exciting (though less so than in the film version) but what really struck me was the theme of having faith. I really liked the way the 4 children varied in their experience of believing in Aslan's presence & how Peter & Susan trusted in (had faith in) Lucy even when they didn't have faith in Aslan at the moment. ( )

Book four in The Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian is suppose to be the ruler of Narnia however, his Uncle has killed his brother and has a new son. Prince Caspian sees that if he stays he will be dead, so he leaves searching for the Narnia he has heard about. ( )